Oh, how times have changed

By
Rod Case, editor

A CASE IN POINT: Times have certainly changed for those travelling the world.

TIMES have certainly changed for those travelling the world.

It wasn't that long ago that snail mail was the only option for keeping in contact with loved ones and friends traipsing around the planet.

Email changed all that.

Facebook and Skype have taken keeping in contact to a whole new level again.

These days touching base with a traveller on the other side of the world is no different to having a conversation with them in their lounge at home.

My dear dad is enjoying his second overseas holiday at the age of 78.

Let's hope it goes better than his first OS venture a few years back which included the river cruise boat trip he was enjoying with my stepmum being hit by a runaway barge and finding its way to the bottom of a river somewhere between Prague and Amsterdam.

Thankfully, they were OK and completed the tour by coach.

Clearly such an experience has not dented their enthusiasm for travel as this time they've headed to Italy en route to a driving tour of England and Scotland.

My dad loves his footy and is a loyal Bomber supporter, so I happily sent him score updates via text from the Port Adelaide match last Saturday.

How amazing that he was receiving those updates as he toured the famous Colosseum in Rome.

Would have been a happy tourist when the final text arrived hailing a two-point victory for his Bombers.

It was only 1991 that he used to send me regular sporting updates from home during a stint living in Leeds in the north of England.

Back then snail mail or telephone were the only options.

We would hear the postman climbing the steps of the three-level house we rented and wait - a light thud meant letters but a heavy thump meant parcel.

A parcel was always greeted with great fanfare because that usually meant goodies such as Twisties, chocolate and a video or two of the footy.

AFL grand final week was a tough encounter - we had to make sure no one 'got a score' as we waited for the video of the big match to arrive from Australia.

Football was off limits when speaking with anyone from home on those super expensive phone calls, while reading anything that could reveal the grand final winner was considered out of bounds!

Football was off limits when speaking with anyone from home on those super expensive phone calls

Nowadays staying away from an AFL grand final score for the time it took Parcel Post to deliver a video from Australia would be impossible given the explosion of social media and the information overload delivered 24-7 to our phones, computers and TVs.

But in 1991 living in soccer-mad Leeds it wasn't that hard to hide from an AFL score and we managed to watch most games as if they were live.